One more cup of coffee for the road…

Most mornings I have that ‘really don’t want to go to work’ struggle. I love being at home. And as soon as I leave the house I have the ‘really don’t want to go to work’ struggle even more, because then I encounter people, and I don’t like people. I went to Sainsbury’s this morning – 9am on a Saturday morning, I have never done that before and never will again…ugh, people. But I needed stuff for lunch, and snacks for Eurovision tonight! Ahem. Anyway, I am now at my little bookshop and very happy to be here. It is a little haven away from the chaos out there. Of course there are people, but they are almost all nice, they come in a few at a time, and nearly all (not quite all but nearly) have one thing in common with me: they have some level of interest in reading books. Anyway, it’s good to be running this lovely place, and it’s a fab place to spend my days given that I do have to go to work, and one of the things I love is that it is shelter from the storm. (Hope you are getting the Bob Dylan references here – I have put a truly stunning performance below to help you get one of them!) The whole reason for this post – why do I witter so much when I start typing? – is to post my favourite internet meme of the moment (apart from the ones lampooning the Tories, but the Tories are a big part of the chaos, so they are covered by this). Drink your coffee and read your books – I am off to make a pot of Monsoon Estates‘ finest.

Live music in June!

It’s been a year since we reopened after the final lockdown (oh no, now I have an unwanted earworm…), and 11 months since I last wrote a proper post – I am hopeless. We are having a brand new website built – by professionals! – so I hope to be so inspired that I remember to post a bit more regularly.

I have lots to say about hosting music gigs, which I used to do about every month at the bookshop pre-pandemic, but I won’t say any of it for now. I will treat you to an essay at some point! Suffice to say that we are going very gently on that front. It is a stressful thing to do, organising gigs, selling tickets, hosting on the night, and I know some are still cautious about attending indoor events. We have had two incredible gigs – Jenny Sturgeon in November and Jon Wilks in February, both of which sold out without me needing to advertise much. But we have another one coming up in June, with tickets still for sale! Percussion and violin duo Intarsia are playing for us on Friday June 10, so do come! Half the duo, percussion supremo Jo May, came once before, and it was a great night – she had us all playing the spoons at one point. Now she has teamed up with fiddler and singer Sarah Matthews, and they have are touring their record Sistere, a mixture of original and traditional tunes.

More soon on the future of music at the Tree House, but tickets for Intarsia are £13 available here – not currently available at the shop, so do use this link to buy them. Friday 10 June, 8pm. Live music is the best – support it when and wherever you can! Here is a taster of their music.